𝐆𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐑𝐈𝐃𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄, original story

five, i'll love you forever, callum makins

"I'll love you forever, Callum Makins," I once said as Callum smiled to me, holding the camera as he waited for me to do as he asked.

"You gonna take your top off, Mads?" on the screen of the laptop — where I was watching the horrid file back — it showed me nodding, before finally agreeing and doing as he asked.

Past me stood in her baby pink bra, smirking at the camera as she swayed innocently, "I know you want to devour me,"

I slammed the laptop shut, pressing a hand to me temple as I let out a breath of air. I couldn't believe I had been that naïve to trust Callum.

This recording was a sex tape of sorts, it was filmed in his room when his Mum was out shopping. He had grabbed his phone and acted as though he wanted something to remember me by, really he wanted wanking material but he was an asshole so he pretended he wanted it treasure forever.

And I went along with it, sweet Maddie who always did as she was told and never once stepped out of line and loved Callum. If you didn't guess, that Maddie Jones was dead. Only the shell of her was left behind. All because Callum had pushed me too far... and I had returned the favour.

I opened up the screen, the video staying paused on my childlike smile as I stood in front of his bed, in the mirror reflection you could see Callum standing, decked out in his Nike tracksuit as per usual. He had multiples of them, his clothing options were like a cartoon characters' wardrobe.

I moved the mouse and clicked on the three dots before deleting the video, I had deleted it from his phone when he died — wearing gloves, as to not leave any finger prints — and left the item with him. This video could be motive, and in the eyes of the police if they ever saw this innocent Maddie wasn't as she seemed.

Once the laptop gave me confirmation it was gone, I let out a large sigh. One of relief. I hadn't known why I didn't delete this earlier, but at least it was finally gone. Forever.

My phone began to ring next to me on the floral quilt, and so I picked it up, answering it, "Hello?"

"Just wanted to triple check you gave me the right number," Harry answered on the other end, we hadn't spoken since Tuesday, and it was now Thursday. Business was the only reason to communicate, I suppose, "And I've got a lead,"

A smile didn't grace my lips, not just yet, "Go on,"

"I don't know how to tell you this... uh..."

"With words?" I suggested, waiting for Harry to reply with something witty back.

"Callum was cheating on you," I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, "At least I... uh, think he was, Rob said so,"

"With who?" I asked, definitely not ready to think about who the mystery woman could be.

At least I have the satisfaction that she didn't kill Callum and that I got there first. The problem with this lead is that it gave me more motive, and if the police discovered this they may came around again, armed with questions... and a one-way trip to an uncomfortable cell.

"Not sure just yet," Harry replied, "Still got more detective work to do,"

"I'll let you get on with that, then," I hung up the phone, glad that he was gone.

I was right, I regretted my decision very much. It was all well and good agreeing, but now I had to ensure he didn't find out the truth. I didn't need any more unnecessary bumps along the road, like him cheating on me with me knowing.

I wasn't angry. I was disappointed. Sure, I sounded like my Mum but it was true. I thought he knew better, I thought Callum knew he had the best. That he destroyed the best.

"Maddie, tea's ready!" Dad shouted up the stairs, to which I jumped up from my bed and left the room, rushing downstairs.

Once I was down, I saw the same faces I did whenever I left my room. Those blank faces that held no emotion. Both Mum and Dad staring at me as though I were some foreign person they didn't know the language of and they had to guess what they were saying, like they did each time we went to Spain on holiday.

Mum sat at the table, food was served. On tonight's menu it was pasta bake. Despite my insistence I hated it, she still served it. Fuck my life.

"Hope your hungry, Mads. There's plenty where that came from," Dad said, shovelling in a mouthful to get rid of it quicker.

Dad would never admit to Mum her cooking was horrible, in fact I think one of the reasons Mum didn't understand what was going on with Callum was because Dad kept so much from her. Nothing bad, of course, just the fact he hated her cooking and sometimes pretended to have to stay at work late so he could get a chippy tea on his mate, Dave.

Tonight was one of the nights he sucked it up, which he had been doing recently. Mainly because everyone was treating me as though I were a fragile, delicate piece of glass which may shatter at any given point.

I sat down and picked up my knife and fork, starting to eat. I shovelled it in like dad, only for a different reason. I couldn't get Callum out of my head, I couldn't stop thinking about all he did.

And now cheating was on the list of sins committed by Callum Makins.

I can remember the first thing he ever got me to do was that video, we had been dating for about three months — which doesn't sound like long, but we had been friends beforehand for like a year. I can remember how he had asked me to take my top off, then my jeans.

"Now Mads, why don't you show us them beautiful boobs," I was fourteen, and I trusted him. I barely had a grasp of the concept of consent. And so, despite knowing it was wrong, I did as he asked.

That was the first time he saw me partially naked. He didn't take it much further than that, he just showed himself kissing my chest and is making out to the camera. And then it ended, and the praise began. Until Callum got bored.

Then he would do it all over again, forcing me into something he knew I wasn't fully comfortable with and praising me after.

At first, I lapped it up. He was almost a year older, if he had been born in March instead of April he would've been the year above. He was born April first, I was born April fourth.

He seemed more mature, and that was what I knew I wanted. Yet him doing what he did wasn't justified. Even if we had the movie dates on Zoom during Covid, even if he set Lily up with one of his mates she fancied, even if he took me on a holiday to the seaside with his family and won me that stupid stuffed bear.

Even if I still had to keep everything just in case it came in handy for the police.

I had never truly realised it before, sure I knew that Callum was a shitty person, but I hadn't ever connected the dots on how bad he was. And now it was all starting to unravel.